Destiny's Long Island
by salulos
Summary: Everyday life of Sora, Riku, and Kairi.  This was written more for the fun of writting and less for reading, but feel free to comment all the same.
1. Meeting

**Disclaimer**- I don't own anything except teh sidekick I wrote this on... Everything belongs to SquareEnix and Long Island.   
**Author's Note**- Sorry about the wierd format, these were all typed on a sidekick so they came out kidna wierd. I suppose if you acually live on Long Island you could appreciate this a lil more but hopefully it wont be too big of a deal. Well as I said earlier, I wrote this just for the fun of writting it so some things may not make much sense, either way, please R&R- my first serious fanfic.

* * *

Sora saw the LIRR train up on the raised tracks slowing to a stop from

across the street in the pizzaria. "Ahh, Riku lets go! The train is

here!"

But Riku was already out of the bathroom and packing some bottles of

water into his backpack while leading Sora out of the under-sized

resturant. Sora stopped for a second to check his reflection in one of

the many mirrors lining the walls of the small buildiing. "Come on!"

Riku said, grabbing Sora with one hand and stuffing his pizza into his

mouth with the other. "Rairi ill be a tu each ight?" Riku tried

yelling with half of his peperoni and sausage slice still hanging out of

his mouth as they were chased across the street by several angry car

honks.

"She said she would meet us at the bus-stop-" Sora paused to whipe his

mouth on his short-sleeve-back and white hoodie which he was wearing

over a plain red shirt, "-right outside the Long Beach station." The

two sprinted up the stairs, taking two at a time as they flew past the

impatient escalator guests. They made it to the top of the platform and

didn't stop running until they were safely in their seats in the back of

one of the middle cars. "Phew, you got your ticket?" Sora sighed more

than asked as the train began moving.

Riku took a moment to swallow the rest of his slice then finally

answered, "Yup, right here." as he took his wallet out of the back

pocket of his jeans and removed his monthly pass, waving it in Sora's

face.

Sora did the same and stuck both tickets in the seam on the top of the

seat for the conducter to come and punch yet another hole in each.

After a moment of silence, Sora finally mumbled, "Ya' know, I've been

hearing alotta people think we're gay."

Riku just laughed, as if Sora had told a joke.

"Seriously, people acually believe it!" Sora finally raised his voice

to a normal level.

"Yeah whatever, crazy fanfic girls online will do all kindsa crazy

stuff when they like you." At this, both boys laughed and forever

dismissed the topic.

The train ride wasn't long, but Sora began to snooze while Riku just

gazed out of the window. Then without warning, Sora's head snapped up

as he kicked the seat in front of him and elbowed Riku in the ribbs.

"What was that?" Riku yelled, more to blow off the evil looks from the

people in the seat in front of them then to acually hear Sora's answer.

"Wha-uhh... Oh!" Sora shoved his left hand into the pocket of his

baggy black pants which were rolled up just below his knees as his cell

phone vibrated once again. "Message from Kairi. She says... she's at

the bus-stop already, and why aren't we."

"We're pulling in now." Riku said as he rose to his feet and pushed

Sora to his. Sora strained to see Kairi waving from down bellow the

tracks and waved back as Riku forced him into the aisle of the train.

Sora hopped out of the train with a giant smile on his face as Riku

continued shoving him in the direction of the steps. Sora kept sounding

like he was about to say something but never managed to get a full word

out.

"Hey guys!" Kairi yelled from across the street as the two ran over to

her, bumping into eachother. She was wearing one of her usual skirts,

black today, and had a leather bag on her hip. She wore an unzipped

light-weight white hoodie over a tight purple sleeveless shirt. "The

bus should be here any minute now... What? Is there something on my

face?" Sora was staring at Kairi with a crooked smirk on his face and

Riku was just looking between the two of them, laughing.

The bus pulled up and exhaust broke the akward mood as the three of

them climbed onto the bus, each one chuckling to themselves, stuck in

their own thoughts.

"Eykids, Two bucks each." The bus driver grumbling without taking his

eyes off the windsheild.

"Oh right, Riku you got the bus." Sora said as he lead Kairi to the

back row and Riku payed the six dollars.

"...and I'll get the icecream, and we all split dinner." Sora finished

explaining to Kairi as Riku joined.

"Sounds good. So what'd you two do thismorning?" Kairi asked, just

trying to get the conversation going.

"Uhh, breakfast at home, then we went out skating for a lil' while. We

stopped at Riku's for a some DDR and then had the classic combo of a

7-11 slurpee and Front Street pizza for lunch."

"What were you doing again Kairi?" Riku asked.

"Oh uhh, nothing too important. Just out... shopping for a little

while."

Riku moaned a suspicious aknowledgement and then turned his intrest to

the increasingly expensive houses outside of the window.

"It's been a while since we went to the islands hasn't it?" Kairi

whispered staring straight ahead, obviously lost in memories of the

times they used to spend there.

"Well since my mom and I moved from the shore it's been much more of a

hassel for all of us to get out there. Remember when the three of us

would spend the night at my house just so we could get back to the

island before all the others the next morning?"

"Yeah," Kairi smiled as she thought back, "and we would just spend

days without doing anything productive. We could just waste what seemed

like endless time. And strangley enough, those were the days we seemed

to get the most done." Riku looked over at Kairi and smiled for a

moment and then went back to his house watching.

None of them said another word until they arrived at the beach parking

lot and filed out with other beach-goers. They all missed the old days

that seemed to last for so much longer than these days do, but that was

why they were heading to the islands today; to relive the memories of

years past.


	2. The Islands

Riku lead the three across the beach to where the sand became dark and

underbrush began growing. People rarley came to this part of the beach

but the three knew every root and rock by heart. Further in, where

small trees were growing, Riku uncovered their old handmade boats used

to sail out to the well know but scarcley visited (except by them),

Destiny Islands. The islands had been their special secret hang-out

since they were seven. The whole of Destiny Islands was made up of one

small island, and three even smaller ones, one of which was connected to

the bigger one by a wooden bridge they made with help from Riku's dad

three years ago.

They each had their own boat and each with a distinct characteristic.

Sora's had a crown carved into the bow of his because he used to be the

noble prince in all their games. Riku had a sheild carved into both

sides on the outsides of his boat to show that he was their fearless

warrior. And Kairi had a magical wand on the stern of hers to show her

magical princess role in their games. The three laughed as they looked

over all of their insignia and remembered the embarassing games that

went along with them.

They each dragged their boats to the ocean and thankfully began rowing

out through fairly calm waves towards the largest of the four islands.

The islands could be seen from the shore, but it was just a dark green

blur from there. The trip was less tiring than usual, but still seemed

to take forever as they gradually approached what they had been

anxiously waiting for for weeks.

They planned on staying on the islands until around three o'clock and

then taking the boats back to the beach for some boardwalk ice cream,

hanging around on the beach, and then dinner before heading back out to

Destiny Islands for the traditional sunset viewing.

When they finally reached the dock on the northern most part of the

largest island, Sora hopped out of his boat and jumped off the far end

of the dock and onto the sand, landing and rolling onto his back with

his hands behind his head.

"Yeah don't worry about it, we'll tie up your boat for you!" Riku

sarcastically yelled as he began tieing both boats to the dock.

Kairi tied her own boat to the dock and then slid to Sora's side,

laying back-down on the sand.

Riku joined them a moment later but stayed sitting, holding onto his

knees. "Wow, it's exactly the same." He said, looking around.

After a moment, "Race to the tree?" Sora asked, half joking. But

after a quick laugh, all three suddenly took off at the same time but

stumbled on eachother and came crashing back down not ten feet away.

They layed in a pile laughing to tears and cramps as they thought of how

seriously they would have taken the race a year ago.

Riku was up first and began walking towards the smaller island that was

connected to the one they were on. Sora and Kairi followed, knowing the

paopu tree was the real reason they had all come here. None of them had

ever eaten a paopu fruit, nor did they ever plan to. They knew now that

the fruit growing on the tree was the same as the kiwi-like fruit that

they could purchase at King Kullen, but the legend made that tree

magical. Just sitting on the trunk's peculiar curve made them feel

connected. The fruit itself had no magic, but the story was what bound

their hearts so that they knew they would always be together. All three

of them believing such a legend was enough to make them realize their

souls had become intertwined durring their times with, and even more so,

without each other.

Riku climbed up the raised wall of the tiny island after wading knee

deep into the water and Sora and Kairi went around the raised island to

the latter on the far side. The three of them just stared at the paopu

fruit for a moment, then Kairi said, "Let's go check the Secret

Place."


	3. The Beach

Sora and Riku followed Kairi towards the spring near the center of the islands and they

all took a drink from the fresh water before crawling under the tree

roots and through the tunnel. The cave itself seemed much smaller than

any of them had remembered, but all the same sketchings remained. Each

picture triggered a memory and a story to go with it. There were

doodles of them battling make-believe monsters, sailing to new worlds,

and of course, the portraits Sora and Kairi drew of each other sharing a

paopu fruit.

Embarassed of what Riku might say, both Sora and Kairi hurried to leave

the Secret Place. Riku had seen their drawing before and although the

slight jealousy and self pitty would always remain, he had already

overcome the issue of Sora and Kairi being together without him. Riku

followed the two out through the tunnel with a satisfied smirk on his

face.

The three re-explored the rest of the islands for the next two hours

and stopped to share their specific memories of everything they saw.

Around three-thirty they were all in need of some refreshments when Sora

remembered their plan to get icecream.

They sailed back to the shore and re-hid their boats. Afterwards, they

headed back over to the boardwalk and found the familiar old ice cream

parlor called Ralph's. Sora ordered Kairi a white-Reese's italian ice,

a mint-chocolate chip brownie sundae for Riku, and a dual stick sea-salt

ice pop for himself.

They sat with their feet dangling off the boardwalk as they ate their

ice cream, and then decided to go for a quick swim before thier big

dinner.

Riku went off to change into his bathing-suit which he had brought in

his backpack while Sora and Kairi began to dig a hole using their

hands. When Riku came back in his black and red shorts, Kairi took his

bag and put it in the hole. She then covered the hole with a towel from

the bag so that it appeared to just be a towel layed out on the sand.

"Wow, pretty clever, Kairi." Sora snikered as he slid his shirts,

shoes, and pocket contents under the blanket.

"Ah, I was wondering where I'd leave all that stuff." Riku said,

already having put his shoes, pants, and tank-top into his bag.

Kairi removed her hoodie and shirt to reveal a dark pink bikini with

black trim that she had had on under her cloths. As she put her shirts,

shoes, skirt, and small bag into the hole, she noticed Sora staring

again.

She met his eyes and both blushed immediatley. Sora quickley tried to

act preoccupied but failed misserably. "Oh umm uhh Riku, how 'bout uhh,

race to the water? Ready-"

Riku's loud laughter stoped Sora's act as he began jogging down to the

water with Sora close behind and Kairi trying to catch up to the two of

them.

The water was cold but refreshing. After about half an hour of

wrestling, body surfing, and being yelled at by the life guard, they

decided to swim back to shore.

All of their gear was right where they left it when they got back, but

they decided to just roll out two more towels and lay there for a bit to

dry off. They had an interesting discussion about why guys seemed to be

naturally more capable with a hacky-sack, and then got changed back into

their regular cloths; Riku and Kairi just putting them over their

bathing suits.

Riku lead them to what he claimed to have heard was the best clam bar

on Long Island while Sora searched through his backpack for the suddenly

interesting hacky-sack. They put their names in at Pete's Clam Bar and

then decided to hack the black jolly-roger hacky-sack after all during

the forty-five minute wait.

Once finally seated and served, Kairi stuck to the safe pop-corn

shrimp, but Sora and Riku continually ordered plate after plate of all

kinds of shell-fish and mollusks. After the meal, they split the bill

total and completely cheated Kairi, but she knew this was the usual

setup to make up for all of the treats they covered throughout the day.

They left Pete's Clam Bar close to seven and decided to head back to

Destiny Islands to just talk and wait around until the sunset marked the

end of their day.


	4. A Gift

The boat ride back to Destiny Islands was quiet. The ocean was

surprisingly pacive and none of the three seemed to have anything to

say. When they finally did arive back on the biggest of the three

islands, they each tied up their own boat and had a seat on the end of

the dock facing west.

After a very quiet minute Sora mumbled, "So now what?" as he threw

himself back so that we was laying down with his hands behind his head.

"Well the sun wont be setting for another half hour so we have some

time." Riku hopped onto the sand below and began walking around,

drawing pictures with his feet. Kairi stood up and just looked around

thinking of what they would do if they were here a year ago. Her eyes

fell on the paopu tree and she suddenly remembered the real reason why

she hadn't joined Sora and Riku that morning.

"Oh guys come here, come here. I have something for you!" She reached

into her leather hip-bag as the two hurried over. "I was finishing

these thismorning while you two were out." She said with a big

satisfied grin on her face. "Hope you like 'em."

She handed each one a small star shaped plush. They both looked at

their yellow gifts for a moment before realizing what they were. There

were two pieces of green cloth sewn onto the top of each one to look

like leaves and the top left point of the star on each one was shortened

to a flat end. It was a plush paopu fruit, made to look like there was

a bite taken from it.

Riku quickly wrapped his arms around Kairi, swaying her side to side

and saying, "Ah thanks Kairi! They're great. I wish we had gotten

something for you though."

When Riku finally released her and she regained the use of her arms,

she reached over to Sora's plush and turned it over in his hands. He

had still been looking down at it, smiling a sad and remenisant smile.

Riku hopped back onto the sand and began rumaging through his backpack

down on the sand for a gift to give to Kairi.

The back side of Sora's plush had blue thread stiching in the center.

There was a script "S&K" stitched on, inside of a big heart that had

unnecissarily swirly ends. Sora looked up at Kairi, smiling as they

hugged.

"Aha!! Here ya go Kairi. You can have our 7-11 slurpee cups from

thismorning. It's only nintey-nine cents for a refill. What a deal!"

Riku knew his garbage could hardly pass as a gift, but he wanted to give

Kairi something.

Sora slipped his plush into his over-sized side pocket, still smiling,

and then followed Kairi over to Riku by the end of the dock. "Oh,"

Kairi giggled, not quite sure what to say, "thanks but, you think you

could hold onto them for me?"

"Yeah sure. We can all make use of them the next time we go to 7-11."

Riku crammed the cups back into his backpack and then climbed back up

onto the dock and took a seat next to Kairi as Sora plopped down on her

other side.

The sun was nearing the horizon now and the sky had begun to adopt the

familiar orangle glow which created a surreal tinted filter on the

entire island and ocean.

Kairi looked at each boy after a moment and realized she was the only

one simply enjoying the begining of the sunset. Both of them were deep

in thought, just staring ahead into the sea.

"Paopu for your thoughts?"

"Hmm?" Both boys came back to the island from their thoughts and

noticed Kairi was still next to them.

"I gave you guys those paopu, so in return you can each tell me what

you're thinking and we'll call it even." Kairi's request was simple but

sincere.

"Alright then," Riku began, "I was thinking about how all we- or

mostly I- wanted to do last time we were all here was make that raft to

sail away. I know I was eager to see other worlds and all, but now that

I'm back I can't believe I ever wanted to leave."

Kairi nodded and smiled, knowing Riku would never acually share all

that was on his mind, but satisfied with his responce all the same.

"Well we had never been away and besides, even if the raft wasn't

destroyed we still may have never left here. We all came back after

getting our chance to go didn't we?"

Riku nodded with a small grin and then dove back into his thoughts.

"Well Sora, what about you?" Kairi asked as she turned to face him.

"I was... Well, do you remember the few days before the storm came?"

"Of course."

"Well that same feeling, like we weren't in control, I feel it now.

It's just like, is any of this for real, or am I just being wierd?"

Kairi took a moment to respond, choosing her words carefully. "Well

destiny can do that, take away control of what's going on. But didn't

everything turn out for the better last time?"

Sora met Kairi's gaze and was assured that her words were genuine by

the look in her eyes. "Yeah I guess, but what if we are seperated

again?"

"Sora," Kairi began with almost a disapointed tone, "havn't you learned

be now; the three of us are never truley seperated. The legend of the

paopu fruit is true if you believe it is."

"But we never-" Riku tried to cut in.

"But we believe it. Anyone can just eat a fruit, it's acually putting

faith in the story that binds our souls."

Satisfied, Riku turned his attention back to the fading sunset. Sora

was still afraid of what he could feel coming, but Kairi's words were far

too asuring to let that bother him now.

With one small movement, Sora slid his hand to Kairi's. Neither one

took their eyes off the sunset but both their hearts were looking to

their hands,

to their bond,

to them.


End file.
